Flowers galore!

I am loving my morning walk to the office. Whatever the season, there are always beautiful flowers in bloom. Sadly, I don't know their names but I always feel being cheered on as I walk past these flowers to face another full day at work.

This time being spring and heading to summer in Australia, the lovely Jacaranda tree is once again making people stop with it's charming display of purple petals.

In some suburbs, there are entire stretches of streets lined with these gorgeous trees. It could very well be the equivalent of Japan's cherry blossoms.

Me stopping to take a photo

Walking on petals. Love! 

My bus stop

Under this lovely tree, enjoying the soft drizzle of purple petals, who cares if the bus is late?

Australia Day 2012

Pouring rain cancelled our plans to go fishing in Kiama today. Instead, we were stuck at home, watching tv and surfing the web. Bummer!

So as not to totally miss out on the celebrations, the hubby grilled sausages and beef patties indoors, plopped them into burger buns and added cheese, lettuce and bbq sauce. Not that bad.

We watched the celebrations in Canberra on tv and I couldn't help but tear up during the citizenship ceremony. Bittersweet. We will be doing ours this year and I often wonder how that will make me feel.

Julia Gillard, Australian Prime Minister, said it very well in her address to the new Aussies," For whatever is left behind, there is so much more to be gained."

Bring it on 2012! :)

Saturday Afternoon in Cronulla

With exams done, I finally get to hang my feet and spend lazy weekends.

Two saturdays ago, we went to a secluded beach in Cronulla, put up three hammocks under the trees and spent the afternoon reading, eating, sleeping.

Me in my hammock with a very good book. Bliss!

We were in dreamland when this bridal party arrived to take some photos.

Hubby just 2 meters away from the bridal party.

They were very apologetic for disturbing our peace and quiet. But I would say it was a very nice distraction.

It was my perfect Saturday afternoon. With summer here, we might just have more of these.

Tale of the Rusty Ski

We came home from our much anticipated trip to Mt Selwyn over the Queen’s Birthday weekend with so many stories to tell. But I am not going to tell you how fun it was to be with four other families with eight overly eager kids between us. Or how much food we brought, complete with a very yummy Pavlova and coffee brownies courtesy of Carol. And how the dads sneaked our magic kalans to the back of the motel so we can cook a complete breakfast and re-heat left-overs. I won’t even go into the details of how hubby threw up a whole day’s worth of meals at 3am. I’m sure you’re not interested  It will probably bore you if I say we had such a long trip, driving over deserted mountains I was beginning to think we got lost and was about ready to call for help—except there was nary a trace of signal. No, I’m not telling you that. Aaaah, did I just tell you that? Teehee!


There was one story from that whole trip which stood out for me…


When we first moved to Australia three years ago, we went through the usual ‘pulot’ phase. I don’t know about you but most of my friends who just landed in Australia experienced this. It’s when you get excited and all pumped up when you see a pile of rubbish on the street-thinking about the possible treasures just waiting to be unearthed - TVs, old computers and printers, components, dvd players, clothes, bags, beds and the list goes on. More often than not, this phase could be born out of sheer necessity or as how my cousin and good friend call it- ‘sa ngalan ng pagtitipid’!


Anyway, on one such ‘pulot’ day, hubby excitedly came home with a pair of rusty skis and made a promise that the skis will have it’s day in the snow as soon as we can afford it. I just shrugged him off. He’s got the weirdest and most impractical ideas, I tell you. After more than 10 yrs of being together, I know when he wouldn’t budge. And this is one of those.


I have totally forgotten about the skis until last Sunday, when I saw it packed along with our snow gear at the back of the car as we were unloading our things. I must admit there was a slight tug in my heart. The look on hubby’s face as he carefully placed the skis on fresh snow was priceless. I was sucked by the drama of it all. It was like the skis coming full circle.


We all took turns having our photos taken with the skis, coming up with every imaginable pose and pretending we actually went skiing.

Hubby trying on the skis

Vince's turn...

Rafa loved it so much!

The skis with our snowman.

When it was time to go, hubby carefully placed the skis on the snow under an old tree. It will sit there until the next “pulot” guy takes it to it’s next adventure. Who knows where that will be? The possibilities are endless.

Egs-ker-syen

That's how Vince says the word "excursion".

Yesterday, his class went on an "egs-ker-syen" to the local train station. He later came home with these goodies.

Thomas and Train story and coloring book.

Coloring pencils.

Water bottle.

Asked what he learned from the trip, among other things, he said they were taught what to do if they get lost in the station.

I love that Australia has these programs. Every year, police and fire brigade officers also visit child care centres and pre-schools to teach childrean safety and which numbers to call in case of emergency. It's mandatory they memorize the emergency hotline Triple 0.

Isn't that great?

3 years

On our third year anniversary in Australia last June 1, i came home to this feast. Hubby decided to celebrate by cooking pancit, pork liempo, adobong kambing and calamari.

Thank you, Lord for three wonderful years. There are so many things to look forward to.

Weekend Get-away

We've been putting off the trip to Port Stephens for the longest time..err, lets rephrase that. I have been going against hubby's suggestion of a holiday at Port Stephens since we bought the car. You know me. I'm an accountant, I was running the costs in my head :) Ang pagkatihik!

One Saturday in May, the hubby announced we'd go for a picnic at Nelson Bay. The kids and I hopped on the car, me not realizing that Nelson Bay is a town in Port Stephens, a two and a half hour drive from where we live. I was too lazy to care, really. All I wanted was an escape from the autumn chill.

It was a good full hour into the trip when it hit me from the road signs that we were actually heading towards Port Stephens. Again, I was too lazy to complain.

Actually, I couldn't find a reason to complain.  Look at these photos :)





Vince and Gab at Nelson Bay- nice and quiet and very clean.

 

Kuya can't get enough of this outdoor shower.

Rafa wanted to swim but was having a bad cough so he played with the water fountain.



and goofed around..



An older couple waiting for the sunset.

Mum and bub playing on the sand while a few men were fishing on the dock.

the original excuse for the trip- a picnic! yummy food!

and this- beautiful sunset. i love!

It was only when we were watching the sunset when I realized we were not going back to Sydney for the night. Hubby planned for an overnight stay! Geez, and I was the only one who didn't bring extra clothes. I enjoyed myself too much so I didn't complain and just went with the plan. We grabbed some things from the shops and proceeded to our accommodation.

Admiral Nelson Motor Inn where wer stayed for the night.

After checking in, we grabbed dinner at the marina where everything happens at Nelson Bay come sunset.

We had an early start the next morning...

First stop- light house at Nelson Bay.

Installed in 1892!

1

The view from the top. Awesome!

What's a trip to Port Stephens without checking out the sand dunes.

Camels! Dubai in Australia!

Sand as far as the eyes can see.

I can't say I hate spontaneous, unplanned trips. I want more :)

Oliver

Our good friend, Mike was part of the play Oliver which was running in the Red Centre Theatre at Wentworthville for three weeks in May. Mike played the role of Dr. Grimwig and also appeared in various other supporting roles throughout the play.

That's Mike in the centre with two other actors.

 I’ve always thought theatre is boring but Oliver changed it all for me. From the resulting performance, it was very evident that the cast gave it their all. The boy playing Oliver was so good, his rendition of the songs moved me to tears. And although the venue was quite small, there was a full orchestra playing and the costumes were great.



As for dear Mike, I am impressed! I was a bit surprised when he invited us to watch his play. I did not have a clue that he was into theatre. I met Mike a few months after we arrived in Sydney. I was waiting for my bus after work and was calling Noemie. Mike heard me speaking Bisaya and was too eager to meet a fellow Bisdak. We’ve been good friends since then. We are just so proud of him and looking forward to seeing more of him on stage.

We came in full force to support our dear friend :)

Ever the gracious host, Mike bought us pizza after the show which we shared while catching up with each other at the parking lot. We then all headed to Rouse Hill to get some goodies from the Pinoy store.

Great day!

Blue

I painted my nails blue and I'm loving it!



Back in the Philippines, I hated painting my fingernails, much less paint it blue!


You have to understand, I have a very "goody-goody" image back home. Kanang magulang nalang sa pagka-MANANG gani. I don't want to call attention to myself, so I stick to conservative get ups. But look what Australia has done to me. I am doing things I would not normally do. I guess this says a lot about the way of life here. Nobody cares what people wear. Which is good! I have worn my skirts and shorts (which I very rarely have the guts to do in P.I.) and I don't even have to worry about crumpled clothes. The best part was strutting my two-piece bikini at Bondi. Feeling jud kaayo! Too bad, I'm not brave enough to post the proof here. Hehe

I wonder what's next for me....




Nindot ang blue. Nindot sad ang green ug orange..hmnn...mao na ni ang sunod!



Can't Quite Remember Where

One day in August last year, we went for a drive with our group of friends. We initially aimed for Bobbin Head Point but the GPS was playing on us and instead pointed us to this place. I can't quite remember where it was but I remember the warm and happy feeling from that trip.

group pic

my boys

vince loved this swing which was very close to the shoreline

great food, great company

After a hearty lunch, we hopped to another picnic area where there was a bbq facility because we had to grill the pork and fish that hubby brought. We had that for afternoon tea along with a bottle of wine. ahhh, the good life!

Harmony Day

Today, our company celebrated Harmony Day.

This is an excerpt from the internal communication sent out to staff:


“Australia has a rich history of multiculturalism, and proudly celebrates this cultural diversity each year on 21st March through Harmony Day. This event is managed by the Australian government Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), and is an opportunity to celebrate the different cultures that make Australia a great place to live, by embracing our differences and sharing our commonalities.


As individuals of different backgrounds and heritage we bring to the workplace an array of skill sets, ethics and values, specialisations and expertise, areas of interest, networks and experiences which contribute to the overall success of our organisation. We have embraced cultural diversity throughout our regional team and also recognised that the opportunities diversity introduces play a key role in our everyday business, and is indeed one of our strengths.”


At 12nn, we all headed to the break-out room for the International Food Fiesta where there was a table laden with food from various countries. It was also a charity event and with a gold coin($1 or $2), you get a “passport” that allows you to sample as much of the food as you can. Here are some photos:

 Lamb pastry from Greece and Taro chips from Samoa

 Baklava from Greece

Oatcakes from Scotland

Almond Biscuits from Malta

Bibingka from the Philippines. My Filipino co-worker asked her sister to make this.

and this was my plate.

Mama's visit to Australia

My mum was here between March and May last year. I'd like to share a few photos of that memorable, wonderful time we spent with her :-)

Mama at the Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge with the boys.

Me coaching her how to pose. She loved it so much, she posed like this in most of her photos haha

Outside the Australian Maritime Musuem

At Taronga Zoo. She loved the cable ride here.

Outside St Mary's Cathedral where World Youth Day was held in 2008

Overlooking Bondi Beach

Enjoying the fine sand and cool water at Bondi Beach

We are all looking forward to her next visit...(padungog-dungog! hehe)